Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Aleko Gitolendia Gets Inspired By Buddy

Temur Dadiani and Aleko Gitolendia are double-amputee soldiers from Georgia who were wounded while serving at the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan. After stepping on an improvised explosive device during their service, they both lost their right and left legs and were gravely injured throughout their entire bodies.

But they didn’t quit and made a recovery.

Corporal Temur Dadiani set a world record for the total number of planche push-ups. On August 3rd 2014, three years after his accident, Corporal Temur's record was certified by the Guinness World Records. A year after, Dadiani smashed his own world record during the charity marathon called We Win Together (see above)

Aleko Gitolendia encouraged his best friend Dadiani in both his world record attempts, but he never thought about setting any kind of records himself. However, something about his buddy's success inspired him to do some special.

"I often used to swim while being treated in the USA. I spent hours in the swimming pools and was able to swim long distances without any rest. I was doing this exercise only for my health. Only after Temur had established the world record did I realize that I could do the same," he explained. "For many people with disabilities, assistance and support are prerequisites for participating in society. We want to give an example to those who need it."

Now the two friends are preparing to achieve their records together on December 3rd, the International Day of People with Disabilities.

Dadiani and Gitolendia will celebrate the International Day of People with Disability by attempting to set a world record. "By doing so, they want to empower Persons with Disabilities to shatter stereotypes and exceed their personal bests in life," said organizer David Begiashvili. "Temur will try to establish a more difficult record than his previous achievements, completing the highest number of pull-ups in one minute, while wearing a 40 lb. weight. As a double amputee, Temur will compete against world's most powerful men such as Bobby Nattoli, Mike Chang (Pullup King) and the current world record holder Ron Cooper. Temur has to complete more than 25 pull-ups attached with additional 40 lb. weight in one minute in order to achieve new record.

On his record attempt, Aleko will complete 3 km swim in the shortest time. During the attempt, Aleko will wear the swimming goggles only. This swim will be more complicated for Aleko because he has amputated both limbs above the knee, in addition to having a broken arm, elbow and wrist, and damaged muscles and tendons. Because that, he has no any sense with his middle finger, ring finger and a little finger, with a decreased sense with thumb and index finger.

Begiashvili has set up an Indiegogo site to raise money for these attempts (see here and their Facebook page here).

"Even if you can't make a donation, you're still a very important part of this project," says Begiashvili. "We are grateful if you could help other people learn about this project. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please email us at info@warriorsbeyondabilities.com or visit our website at www.warriorsbeyondabilities.com."

The Other Shore

The Other Shore follows world record holder and legendary swimmer Diana Nyad as she comes out of a thirty-year retirement to re-attempt an elusive dream: swimming 103 miles non-stop from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage. Her past and present collide in her obsession with a feat that nobody has ever accomplished. At the edge of The Devil’s Triangle, tropical storms, sharks, venomous jellyfish, and one of the strongest ocean currents in the world, all prove to be life-threatening realities. Timothy Wheeler’s documentary brings Diana Nyad’s extraordinary adventure to life as Diana sets out to prove that will and determination are all you need to make the unimaginable possible.LEARN MORE...

2014 Open Water Swimming Almanac

An Almanac for Open Water Swimming

An almanac is essentially a body of knowledge which is so complete that it enables people in different fields to make predictions about the future of their respective industries.

This, for example, was the purpose of the traditional farmers almanacs. It enabled farmers to determine as accurately as possible which crops to plant for the greatest harvests in a given year.

But the farmers almanac was just one example among many. There are, of course, many different kinds of almanacs.

Congratulations to Antonio Argüelles Díaz-González of Mexico

Congratulations to Andrea Fazio of Italy

Congratulations to World Ice Swimming Championships In Murmansk, Russia

2015 World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year

Lewis Pugh Presents WOWSA Awards at Big Chill Swim

5 February 2016 in Windermere

2014 & 2015 WOWSA Awards

World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year, World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year, World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year and World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year will be celebrated at the Big Chill Swim, one of the world's largest winter swimming festivals

FINIS Custom Suits

Swim Pain Free

Open Water Personality Test

Professional Open Water Coaching

Ocean Games In New Jersey

1 - 3 - 9 mile ocean swims on July 19th

FINIS Instinct

FINIS Agility Paddles

One of the World's Top Open Water Swim

Open Water Swimming in Italy

SWIM THE ISLAND is the ultimate open water swimming event taking place in the fascinating Marine Protected Area of Bergeggi, in the north-west coast of Italy. The event takes place in an absolutely spectacular natural setting, offering swimmers the vision of one of the most extraordinary seabeds of the Mediterranean sea.